Dont batton with your knife

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

SJStuart

Settler
Jan 22, 2013
997
2
Suffolk Coast
That's it all sorted then! Perfect.

What else would you use to open a can of paint. I've even got a special screwdriver I use for that purpose and never use to take screws out:)

But you can't use a simple, effective and efficient means like that! I mean, you have to use the specialized tool which performs exactly the same function... </sarcasm>
 

ozzy1977

Full Member
Jan 10, 2006
8,558
3
46
Henley
Being stranded in the wilderness is diffrent from what we do, which to be fair is camping in a wood. In a true survival situation if I only had a knife then if needed it would be used.
 

SJStuart

Settler
Jan 22, 2013
997
2
Suffolk Coast
Not making thing difficult, I was always taught to use the correct tool for the job at hand.

I'm just playing with you, buddy... and by and large, I agree with that line of thinking (which is why whenever I find myself needing a tool, I buy it rather than trying to fudge the job and risking damage to other tools I already have).

Still, my knife is made for batoning, and that's just what it'll do... one of these days... I'm not going to finish that :p
 

Dave-the-rave

Settler
Feb 14, 2013
638
1
minsk
Today I used a set of unused handle bars as an extension on my breaker bar to crack a bolt with 40 ft lbs of torque on my bike. Personally I thought that was using initiative.

As for battening a knife well I don't care what others do. What I've found though is heavy battening can take an edge of a knife so the heaviest I'll go is dependent on the knife being used. I'm only talking about edge retention here, I'm not talking about breaking a knife.

If I could batton a 4 inch blade through 4 inches of wood without blunting the knife I probably would, assuming I didn't have an axe to hand. I don't though because my knives won't take that and I have no intention of having to sharpen my knives if I'm only out for a few days. I've got no intention of spending hundreds on a knife that can take that either.

Horses for courses innit. Hey I've heard of some mentalists who faff around in the rain trying to get a spark. I use a lighter myself.
 

CACTUS ELF

Need to contact Admin...
Feb 16, 2012
108
0
Cheshire
Quote Originally Posted by Monikieman View Post
That's it all sorted then! Perfect.

What else would you use to open a can of paint. I've even got a special screwdriver I use for that purpose and never use to take screws out

I use a knife...

Can the BG Ultimate Pro do that as well then? :)
 

Humpback

On a new journey
Dec 10, 2006
1,231
0
66
1/4 mile from Bramley End.
Bushcrafters who baton with their knife fulfill the golden rule of bushcrafting in having kit that serves double duty:-
1. Batons wood.
2. Drives those who don't to distraction.


Alan
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,106
2,833
66
Pembrokeshire
Quote Originally Posted by Monikieman View Post
That's it all sorted then! Perfect.

What else would you use to open a can of paint. I've even got a special screwdriver I use for that purpose and never use to take screws out



Can the BG Ultimate Pro do that as well then? :)

No .................. I use a special knife that is not likely to fail in the attempt - got it from a charity shop :)
 

SJStuart

Settler
Jan 22, 2013
997
2
Suffolk Coast
some good replies here, but if your worried about taking the edge off your knife then get one of these http://www.greenmanbushcraft.co.uk/special-offers/hultafors-heavy-duty-bushcraft-knife.htm at 5.95, you really wont mind batonning the b-jesus out of it.
Or... alternatively... learn to sharpen your knife.

Face it: chopping wood with an axe will take the edge off in just the same way as it will a suitable knife. The whole "but it'll dull my blade" excuse is just a cop-out by people who'd rather show off their knives than actually use them imho.
 

demographic

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 15, 2005
4,691
710
-------------
No .................. I use a special knife that is not likely to fail in the attempt - got it from a charity shop :)

Just recently a bloke I was working for picked my freshly sharpened half inch chisel and was just putting it into the lip by the lid of a tin of paint when he was so rudely interrupted by me shouting at him at about 120 dB, poor bloke bricked himself and was quite put out by the experience.
Still he learned that just because he was paying me didn't mean he could dick about with my tools.
 

Monikieman

Full Member
Jun 17, 2013
915
11
Monikie, Angus
Auch you guys have got me converted.

That's it. Knife away and no more batoning with it.

I'm off to the charity shop to get an old screwdriver, sharpen it on the grinder and use that instead.:eek:
 

AntMan232

Member
Jan 2, 2012
25
0
Surrey
Just to add my opinion to the pot, I am very happy to baton my penknife, it just happens to be a fairly sizeable khukuri... :p

(I maintain that my khukuri is the single best tool I have ever bought, from a man in a village in Nepal, for about £8. It is seriously epic at chopping through 4+ inch branches, splitting the resulting logs down to pencil sized, and then shaving them into firesticks.)
Ant
 

JoshS

Member
Nov 16, 2010
38
0
Outside
Alot of the arguments on this thread are about using an axe- so what axe are you all using that is really the "proper tool" for splitting compared to a knife?
If its a gransfors bruks small forest axe or similar I got to say that is not a good choice of axe for splitting- the blade is too thin. Its more like a mini felling axe. That thin blade is more likely to stick in the wood -great for slicing fibres though. So where is your splitting maul? Too heavy to carry right?
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
That's it all sorted then! Perfect.

What else would you use to open a can of paint. I've even got a special screwdriver I use for that purpose and never use to take screws out:)

Maybe one of these:



They come free with every can of paint sold.
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE